House of Cards season 6 will run for eight episodes
House of Cards season 6 is still going to happen on Netflix; however, it’s not going to be anywhere near as substantial as it was first planned.
According to a report from Deadline, the streaming provider’s head Ted Sarandos noted at a UBS conference that the final season will run for eight episodes and will feature Robin Wright as the series’ lead. Production on these episodes will kick off early next year, and we’re starting to get a good sense as to how the show is going to work in the wake of Kevin Spacey’s firing amid a sexual harassment and abuse scandal.
While there was footage that Spacey filmed before the allegations first surfaced by actor Anthony Rapp, it appears as though Netflix and the studio (Media Rights Capital) are wiping the slate clean and starting anew. What that means is that the Frank Underwood character is likely going to be killed off-screen leading into the start of the season and we’ll get a chance to see the journey of Claire Underwood play out instead. Given that she’s been an enormous part of the series since the beginning it doesn’t feel like all that much of a stretch to focus the story on her.
Structuring the final season in such a way and abandoning the footage of Spacey seems to be the best thing that the show do in order to move forward and avoid some of the distractions that they would have had otherwise. They want to keep the show going and it’s understandable that this is something they would want — House of Cards employs many people and you want to see these people in the Baltimore area have work a little while longer. However, you also want to give your show a fighting chance, and it’s going to be hard enough for the House of Cards cast to promote the upcoming season when you stop and think about all of the various headlines around Spacey that you are probably going to see overshadow the show it’self.
What do you think about this decision for House of Cards season 6? Do you think that it is the right one? Be sure to share in the comments below!